Utah County approves extension for Dry Creek Reservoir tourism tax funds

The status of Lehi’s Dry Creek Reservoir has changed over the last few years from a full-fledged regional park with many amenities like paved parking, restrooms, recreation rentals, food concessions, a sandy beach, a fish station and a pier–to all those plans canceled and off the table. 

On Wednesday, the Utah County Commission may have revived parts of the Dry Creek Reservoir proposal after approving an extension of $1.5 million in TRCC tax grant funding (Tourism, Recreation, Cultural and Convention). The grant would have expired on December 31, 2024, and the Utah County Commission unanimously approved an extension to June 30, 2026. Lehi has also received a $700,000 grant from the Metropolitan Water District. 

Earlier this year, in a May City Council meeting, Lehi City staff and Lehi City Council were at odds over plans for the reservoir and whether it should move forward as a recreational facility. 

“There are obviously pros and cons with whatever route we take,” said Lehi City Manager Jason Walker. 

“We would need at least one full-time employee and two or three seasonal employees to service the area. Anything less than that would be doing ourselves a disservice,” said Lehi City Parks Director Steve Marchbanks, who expressed concerns regarding maintenance, upkeep and how to limit public access if the reservoir became a recreational park.  

“This isn’t a facility where we can keep a steady water level throughout a recreation season; it would be highly variable…We need to use this facility as it was designed for, and it doesn’t really play well with recreation,” added Lehi Public Works Director Dave Norman, discussing varying levels of spring water runoff.

While staff sounded off regarding their concerns during the May meeting, Mayor Mark Johnson and the City Council stated their disappointment with the status of the reservoir. 

Advertisement

“This project started well over six years ago. When I became Mayor, I was really excited about the plans, and the general public was too. What concerns me is how we got from spending all the money on designing what was going to be a great recreational facility to where we are today, saying ‘it’s not good for recreation,’” said Johnson.  

Last week’s extension agreement between Lehi City and Utah County states that Lehi will install the following recreational features by the June 30, 2026 deadline: two paved parking lots with a total of 200 parking stalls, a 10-foot wide concrete trail adjacent to the main parking lot, a sandy beach that extends from the main parking lot to the low water level, paved and curbed access roads, a 12 stall flush toilet restroom with fish cleaning station and entry gates.

“Lehi’s grant received support for an extension from both the TRCC Board and the County Commission. We believe this project will provide a valuable recreational resource for the region and help alleviate the stressed demand at Tibble Fork. We look forward to seeing the project completed,” said Utah County Commissioner Skyler Beltran in a written statement to the Lehi Free Press when reached on Monday. 

Lehi City did not respond to a request for comment.